In my Life
Hamburg
Hamburg has been on our wish list for a few years now. Opinion of Germany's second city can sometimes be coloured by the colourful Reeperbahn in St Pauli, but as we found out, it has so much more to offer. When the Divine Comedy announced a concert in Hamburg as part of their European tour we had our excuse to spend a long weekend to submerse ourselves in the Beatles folklore, discover the docks, enjoy lakeside relaxation, a miniature wunderland and some great beer!
Landing at Hamburg airport it's just 25 minutes on the S-Bahn to the central station. If you are planning to take advantage of the excellent transport links to move around the city then consider getting a Hamburg Card. As well as covering your trains and buses you'll also save money on lots of tourist attractions and museums.
Altstadt is the commercial centre of Hamburg based around the impressive town hall, the Rathaus. There's plenty to see and do with towering churches dotted among the canals and main shopping thoroughfares as well as some decent breweries. Most beer halls have good vegetarian options these days but Brauhaus Joh.Albrecht which sits on one of the many canals gets a special mention for it's flatbread pizza Flammkuchen - Perfect sharing food for a quick lunch.
If you like your shopping a little more eclectic, try out the weekend Flea market at Flohschanze. It's busy with lots going on, and the locals are very friendly. If you are in this neck of the woods then also take a closer look at the nearby, impressive TV tower, the Heinrich-Hertz-Turm which is due to reopen in 2023.
A short hop on the U-Bahn from the TV Tower is St Georg, a pleasant area full of cafe bars and inviting independent shops selling a higher quality souvenir. Treat yourself to a coffee and a cake and then have a wander around. We discovered the nearby Alster Lakes and had a beer relaxing and watching the joggers, dog walkers and yacht-folk crossing paths on their respective weekends.
Any trip to Hamburg isn't complete without a trip to Germany's most popular tourist attraction, the quite brilliantly bonkers Miniatur Wunderland. It's a toy train enthusiast's vision of the world, or at least some of it. Spread over three floors of a warehouse in the Speicherstadt district, you'll see recreations of Hamburg's most famous sites, Switzerland's mountains, Scandinavia Lakes, Miami, Cape Canaveral Space Centre, a huge chunk of Italy including a mini-Venice and loads more. We even spotted the Millennium Falcon at Hamburg airport and there are plenty of lighthouses to find.
Wunderland is a wonderful place for kids and adults who haven't grown up yet. Interactive buttons will action roof-top graffiti artists to begin a little illegal activity, another button will automate a helicopter crash - and they do seem to like an accident! Maybe it's the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles that make them so popular? Be prepared for the lights to dim and see all the scenes by night and I challenge anyone not to be mesmerised by the planes taking off and disappearing into the warehouse wall. But it gets busy! Book ahead, and get in there early even if you have a hangover!
Back in the fresh air a walk through Speicherstadt 'City of Warehouses' district is another must. The bridges and canals interlock between the red-bricked monoliths and provide some spectacular city scapes. It's a serene, peaceful stroll that will provide some light relief from the busy miniature world, although your perspective may be a little askew for a while. Are they small or far away!
Wandering around the warehouse district you can't fail to miss the Elbphilharmonie, a wonderful modern building housing concert halls, exhibitions areas and restaurants. It's proved very popular with the locals as beautiful focal point on the Elbe River. You do need tickets to enter that you can pick up at the entrance but it is free to explore.
The curving escalator entrance provides the wow factor entering the building and the 360 degree viewing platform that wraps round the building is a fantastic place to view all of Hamburg's expansive dock front.
With a view to clearing out any remaining cobwebs we jumped on one of the numerous harbour boat trips and whilst sipping on a beer endured the freezing wind to take an enjoyable hour-long mooch around the docks and the huge container terminals. The sheer size of the operation is breathtaking.
Wind burnt and cold there was still one more item on our dockland itinerary and that was a trip along one of the pedestrian tunnels under the Elbe that were originally built for the dock workers. We ventured down the stairs of the Eingang-Alter Elbtunnel and walked under the river in a wonderfully tiled tunnel. A surreal experience and although there's not much to do when you reach the other end, other than turn around and walk back, it's good fun, trust me!
Tanzende Türme, or the 'dancing towers' mark the start of the east end of the Reeperbahn and hint that all is not what it seems in Hamburg. Which is maybe a good approach to take when venturing into the St Pauli district on and around the Reeperbahn.
On our visit it didn't fail to live up to it's reputation. It's a high octane experience of prostitution, drugs, beer and excess and is not for the faint hearted. But it is a big part of the Beatles story, and that's why we found ourselves there on a Saturday night as part of the most famous Beatles tour in Hamburg.
The Hempel's Beatles tour starts at Feldstraße station, which is next to the funfair where the early iconic photos of the young Liverpudlians where taken by Astrid Kirchherr.
For the next two hours the delightful superfan Stefanie Hempel took us on a tour of the Beatle's Hamburg, even throwing in a handful of songs (played on a ukulele) along the way.
There were lots of great stories and places of interest to keep even the most ardent Beatles fan intrigued. The Hotel Pacific was a particular standout for me. It was built in 1962 by a club promoter and the 4th floor was taken over by the the Beatles and other touring groups. Incredibly it looks exactly the same as did nearly 60 years ago!
A trip to the site of the Bambi Cinema (where the Beatles' first stayed in Hamburg) was followed by the Lennon doorway, which later became the front cover of his 1977 album Rock'n'Roll, the Indra Club, the Kaiser Keller, the Star Club, the Top Ten club and many more. It's a great way to learn about the Beatles' time in Hamburg, and it's also a great way to see the edgier parts of the city.
I revisited the Beatles anthology film when I returned home and looking back at the footage of the Reeperbahn from over half a century ago, it was uncanny to see how little the area had changed in the intervening period. You will experience what the Beatles experienced on a trip to St Pauli.
For the folk who don't want Saturday night to end, the late night revelry continues with live music and beer at the famous fish market on a Sunday morning. Check it out on a walk along the dock front to the the very pleasant Altona district, and take in the views from the top of the dockland office building, shaped like a spectacular ship on the way.
Hamburg was rough and ready but it pleasantly surprised us at how beautiful some of the immediate areas are. We crammed a lot in and it felt like we'd been here a lot longer than we actually had been.
And big German beers! What more do you need? We'll be back.
Hamburg has been on our wish list for a few years now. Opinion of Germany's second city can sometimes be coloured by the colourful Reeperbahn in St Pauli, but as we found out, it has so much more to offer. When the Divine Comedy announced a concert in Hamburg as part of their European tour we had our excuse to spend a long weekend to submerse ourselves in the Beatles folklore, discover the docks, enjoy lakeside relaxation, a miniature wunderland and some great beer!
 |
| Dockland rhomboid, Hamburg |
Landing at Hamburg airport it's just 25 minutes on the S-Bahn to the central station. If you are planning to take advantage of the excellent transport links to move around the city then consider getting a Hamburg Card. As well as covering your trains and buses you'll also save money on lots of tourist attractions and museums.
 |
| Rauthaus, Hamburg |
Altstadt is the commercial centre of Hamburg based around the impressive town hall, the Rathaus. There's plenty to see and do with towering churches dotted among the canals and main shopping thoroughfares as well as some decent breweries. Most beer halls have good vegetarian options these days but Brauhaus Joh.Albrecht which sits on one of the many canals gets a special mention for it's flatbread pizza Flammkuchen - Perfect sharing food for a quick lunch.
 |
| TV Tower, Hamburg |
If you like your shopping a little more eclectic, try out the weekend Flea market at Flohschanze. It's busy with lots going on, and the locals are very friendly. If you are in this neck of the woods then also take a closer look at the nearby, impressive TV tower, the Heinrich-Hertz-Turm which is due to reopen in 2023.
 |
| The friendly folk of Hamburg |
A short hop on the U-Bahn from the TV Tower is St Georg, a pleasant area full of cafe bars and inviting independent shops selling a higher quality souvenir. Treat yourself to a coffee and a cake and then have a wander around. We discovered the nearby Alster Lakes and had a beer relaxing and watching the joggers, dog walkers and yacht-folk crossing paths on their respective weekends.
 |
| Alster Lakes, Hamburg |
Any trip to Hamburg isn't complete without a trip to Germany's most popular tourist attraction, the quite brilliantly bonkers Miniatur Wunderland. It's a toy train enthusiast's vision of the world, or at least some of it. Spread over three floors of a warehouse in the Speicherstadt district, you'll see recreations of Hamburg's most famous sites, Switzerland's mountains, Scandinavia Lakes, Miami, Cape Canaveral Space Centre, a huge chunk of Italy including a mini-Venice and loads more. We even spotted the Millennium Falcon at Hamburg airport and there are plenty of lighthouses to find.
 |
| Speicherstadt, Hamburg |
Wunderland is a wonderful place for kids and adults who haven't grown up yet. Interactive buttons will action roof-top graffiti artists to begin a little illegal activity, another button will automate a helicopter crash - and they do seem to like an accident! Maybe it's the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles that make them so popular? Be prepared for the lights to dim and see all the scenes by night and I challenge anyone not to be mesmerised by the planes taking off and disappearing into the warehouse wall. But it gets busy! Book ahead, and get in there early even if you have a hangover!
 |
| St Peter's Square, Venice, Minatur Wunderland, Hamburg |
Back in the fresh air a walk through Speicherstadt 'City of Warehouses' district is another must. The bridges and canals interlock between the red-bricked monoliths and provide some spectacular city scapes. It's a serene, peaceful stroll that will provide some light relief from the busy miniature world, although your perspective may be a little askew for a while. Are they small or far away!
 |
| Speicherstadt, Hamburg |
Wandering around the warehouse district you can't fail to miss the Elbphilharmonie, a wonderful modern building housing concert halls, exhibitions areas and restaurants. It's proved very popular with the locals as beautiful focal point on the Elbe River. You do need tickets to enter that you can pick up at the entrance but it is free to explore.
The curving escalator entrance provides the wow factor entering the building and the 360 degree viewing platform that wraps round the building is a fantastic place to view all of Hamburg's expansive dock front.
 |
| Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg |
With a view to clearing out any remaining cobwebs we jumped on one of the numerous harbour boat trips and whilst sipping on a beer endured the freezing wind to take an enjoyable hour-long mooch around the docks and the huge container terminals. The sheer size of the operation is breathtaking.
 |
| Lighthouse boat, Hamburg |
 |
| Container terminal, Hamburg |
Wind burnt and cold there was still one more item on our dockland itinerary and that was a trip along one of the pedestrian tunnels under the Elbe that were originally built for the dock workers. We ventured down the stairs of the Eingang-Alter Elbtunnel and walked under the river in a wonderfully tiled tunnel. A surreal experience and although there's not much to do when you reach the other end, other than turn around and walk back, it's good fun, trust me!
 |
| Eingang - Alter Elbtunnel, Hamburg |
Tanzende Türme, or the 'dancing towers' mark the start of the east end of the Reeperbahn and hint that all is not what it seems in Hamburg. Which is maybe a good approach to take when venturing into the St Pauli district on and around the Reeperbahn.
On our visit it didn't fail to live up to it's reputation. It's a high octane experience of prostitution, drugs, beer and excess and is not for the faint hearted. But it is a big part of the Beatles story, and that's why we found ourselves there on a Saturday night as part of the most famous Beatles tour in Hamburg.
 |
| Tanzende Türme, the dancing towers, Hamburg |
For the next two hours the delightful superfan Stefanie Hempel took us on a tour of the Beatle's Hamburg, even throwing in a handful of songs (played on a ukulele) along the way.
There were lots of great stories and places of interest to keep even the most ardent Beatles fan intrigued. The Hotel Pacific was a particular standout for me. It was built in 1962 by a club promoter and the 4th floor was taken over by the the Beatles and other touring groups. Incredibly it looks exactly the same as did nearly 60 years ago!
 |
| Beatles hotel, Hamburg |
A trip to the site of the Bambi Cinema (where the Beatles' first stayed in Hamburg) was followed by the Lennon doorway, which later became the front cover of his 1977 album Rock'n'Roll, the Indra Club, the Kaiser Keller, the Star Club, the Top Ten club and many more. It's a great way to learn about the Beatles' time in Hamburg, and it's also a great way to see the edgier parts of the city.
I revisited the Beatles anthology film when I returned home and looking back at the footage of the Reeperbahn from over half a century ago, it was uncanny to see how little the area had changed in the intervening period. You will experience what the Beatles experienced on a trip to St Pauli.
 |
| The Lennon doorway. The Beatles in Hamburg |
For the folk who don't want Saturday night to end, the late night revelry continues with live music and beer at the famous fish market on a Sunday morning. Check it out on a walk along the dock front to the the very pleasant Altona district, and take in the views from the top of the dockland office building, shaped like a spectacular ship on the way.
 |
| Sunday morning at the Fish Market, Hamburg |
Hamburg was rough and ready but it pleasantly surprised us at how beautiful some of the immediate areas are. We crammed a lot in and it felt like we'd been here a lot longer than we actually had been.
And big German beers! What more do you need? We'll be back.
 |
| We love Hamburg |
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